| Widow-Maker | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Other Names |
Lightning |
|
First Appearance |
Saga of Pecos Bill (1923) |
|
Original Publisher |
The Century Magazine |
|
Created by |
Edward S. O'Reilly |
Origin[]
Widow-Maker is a horse who only Pecos Bill could survive riding. He earned his name because he was Texas's first and most notorious serial killer, leaving a trail of dead bodies clear across Texas (this is another version of how the Rio Grande was made). Dynamite was said to be his favorite food.
After Bill proposes to Slue Foot Sue. She insists on riding Widow-Maker before, during or after the wedding (depending on variations in the story). Widow-Maker, jealous of no longer having Bill's undivided attention, bounces Sue off; she lands on her bustle and begins bouncing higher and higher. Bill catches her, but then gets pulled with her. The town folks assumed both Bill and Sue were bounced away to another place or both ended up on the Moon where they stayed and were never seen again.
In a few other versions, Bill attempts, but fails, to lasso her, because of an interference by Widow-Maker who did not want her on his back again (or for that matter didn't want her coming between his and Bill's friendship), and she eventually hits her head on the Moon. After she has been bouncing for days, Pecos Bill realizes that she would eventually starve to death, so he lassos her with Shake the rattlesnake and brings her back down to Earth. Widow-Maker, realizing that what he did to her was wrong, apologizes and is forgiven.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Saga of Pecos Bill (1923)
- Cowboy Tales (1929)
- Tall Tales from Texas Cow Camps (1934)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- The Comics #11
- Nature Boy #4
- Buster Crabbe Comics #2
- Redskin #10, a text story, Widow-Maker is called Widder-Maker.